French Huguenots who founded New Paltz in 1677 had used enslaved Africans for construction and farm work as early as 1673. By 1790, 179 enslaved African-Americans and 9 free persons of color lived in New Paltz. Slavery officially ended in New York State in 1827, but many African-Americans remained in servitude until 1848. A burial ground used by Africans and their descendants was located nearby. After the Civil War, when whites allowed African-American burials in a segregated portion of the New Paltz Rural Cemetery on Plains Road, this burial ground was no longer used and its existence was nearly forgotten.